A LIBRARY IS AN AUTHENTIC PLACE
Reorganization of services in public libraries of the Alps-Adriatic Regions
Szombathely 28th October 2003

In Italy, just as in many other parts of the world, for some time there have been many more public interventions aimed at constructing or renovating buildings to be used as libraries than we have ever seen before. Owing to the considerable financial burden it entails and consequently to the political conviction that cannot fail to support it, this situation, also present in the Veneto Region, finally shelves the premonitions of those prophets of misfortune who considered libraries, especially public libraries, a dying species.
Although this is apparent, it is nonetheless useful to consider which library buildings and consequently which libraries are being created. In fact, it is known that the physical structure has a primary role in determining the level of quality of the offer, starting from the citizen’s image of the library, which is inevitably linked to expectations in relation to the service and the ensuing idea of whether or not he can make use of it.
When planning a new building for a library, the sense, objectives and qualities to attribute to this service should also be defined simultaneously.

As we know, the thousand-year-old history of libraries highlights that the essence of the activity of these cultural institutions lies in communication. Libraries are above all dialectic places, idea “markets”. All other activities that have taken place over the centuries in libraries, from the preservation to the creation of the catalogue, have been and are instrumental to the transmission of information and culture.
In particular, the public library is a public place for cultural exchange, an agora which thanks to telematics, has in recent years adopted a virtual dimension as well as a physical one.
The idea of a square, often used in new architectural designs with the function of creating a library, also transmits the need to portray it as a place for all, a constituent of the urban structure, linked, to as great an extent possible, to all other cultural institutions in the town. In the best embodiments of libraries the town shows, also visually and functionally, that it is “conscious” of the library and that the library, with its internal organization and its action, in turn proves that it is “conscious” of the town and its needs.
In the fluidity of the dialogue between user and service structure, in the implementation of choices adapted to the needs of the community, therefore, as mentioned, the quality of the public service, in this case the library, is brought into play.

With the expression authentic place the title of this Convention seems to highlight on the one hand the widespread recognizability of the topos public library and on the other a sense of “not unnatural”, of true reflection of the local community in the structure of the library.

I believe it is inevitable, to ensure correct reflection on the public library, to start in any case from the IFLA/Unesco guidelines1. The most recent edition, published in 2001, guarantees space for library buildings already in chapter one and, with care taken over valorizing local experiences, provides an appendix with the standards for library buildings in Ontario (Canada) and Barcelona (Spain). In the Italian edition, published the subsequent year, we decided to integrate these suggestions with 11 technical sheets providing illustrations of as many new Italian library structures of different sizes.
From these influential sources and examples it is easy to obtain concepts such as those of a building capable of reflecting the functions of the service, of accessibility for all, of a library that is the cultural centre of the community, of a flexible structure capable of adapting to progressively new and varied service needs.
The analysis of facts, or assessment in the field, is not always encouraging with regard to these preliminaries. What has happened and continues to happen in the Veneto Region confirms the need to further clarify these subjects also among those performing the works.

In my opinion, the greatest failing derives from the lack of adequate library planning. This lack can be attributed partly to local public administrations, although also to some extent to technicians, that is to librarians whose professional baggage rarely contains sufficient knowledge to produce a library plan. In actual fact, especially in smaller towns, we often find that they do not even comprehend the need for this task and are therefore unable to suggest to the administration that a third person with appropriate training should be appointed for this purpose. This “gap” in planning is a constant, especially in the case of partial operations on the building. Moreover, this does not appear less important, as these operations determine a noteworthy inflow of money to the library, much higher than the normal financing it receives each year and capable of modifying the layout considerably. These are therefore “golden” opportunities to be seized to attain an improvement in the organization of services.

In view of the fact that one of the problems hindering dialogue between libraries at international level and unfortunately at times also at national level, is the lack of a shared list of entries, please allow me to clarify this aspect of library economics planning.

The idea becoming consolidated in the discussion on this matter, at least within the Italian librarians environment, is that this activity must entail numerous and analytic passages.

A first study phase is structured in:
• study of the local community of reference
• study of the existing library structure
• analysis of the organization of the library/information services in the territory
• analysis of the characteristics of the cooperation network in which the library is included

The second is a phase to plan at least the essential aspects of the actual services. This includes:
• definition of the service objectives
• analysis of the functions of the new structure
• quantification and definition of the type of documentary offer
• quantification of the spaces required for each service area
• characterization of the spaces in terms of their content (equipment, seating, tables, etc.) and the functions implemented
• definition of spatial relations between the various areas
• indications of the general methods relative, for example, to environmental aspects such as temperature, humidity, natural/artificial light, etc..

A further planning phase, strictly correlated to the previous one, but in which the role of library technician supports other professional positions (engineers, architects, etc.), includes:
• consultancy in the planning of systems
• consultancy in the planning of furnishings
• planning of routes and external and internal signs

The final planning phase, which is no less important, is closely linked to organization of the service. It includes:
• organization of back-office and front-line work
• computerization of services
• definition of the work force and professional specializations required

All this undoubtedly requires a great deal of commitment which however provides important indications expressed not with general terms but with numbers, precise measurements which, if applied during the production phase, cannot fail to determine close correlation between the needs of the community served and the structural attributes of the service offer.

As well as obvious difficulties in the library’s activity due to the inadequacy of the spaces in which it is housed, the lack of similar planning upstream and at the side of more classic architectural or plant layout planning also causes incorrect development of public administration in the social role of the public library, as outlined by UNESCO and IFLA, and insufficient ability to predict, especially as regards economic-financial aspects, the commitment represented by the new structure. Often, this makes it impossible to subsequently exploit the potentials of the spaces acquired, in terms of public service.

Analysis of works accomplished in the Veneto Region in recent years, some of which are also illustrated in the presentation prepared here by the colleague Márta Pallósiné Toldi, allows some reflections:

- these are generally small or medium sized libraries. The libraries in the administrative seats of provinces have not yet managed to adapt their premises with important operations and therefore have great management and organizational difficulties.

- The choice of building fell on existing constructions, often historical buildings but also (and this is almost completely new in Italy) on new buildings built specifically to house the library
- With the new buildings, an effort was made to give the cultural institution external visibility and its position was almost always chosen by examining the town’s plans for urban development.
- The interiors are well-designed and the level of livability is almost always high. This refers to furnishings, amount of light, climatic aspects, colours, etc..
- Often (and this is also new for us) these buildings also provide users with outdoor areas, gardens, terraces, used to supply a service for children, for the periodicals sector or as purely recreational spaces.
- Where possible “open space” solutions, undoubtedly more flexible, were chosen for the public.
- Particular care was always taken over compliance with standards to eliminate architectural barriers and standards regarding safety in public buildings

Considering purely librarianship aspects the following must also be mentioned:
- the increase in the range of services offered, particularly with reference to audiovisual services (still not often available in Italy), multimedia, internet stations. This has meant that in many cases the library is not used merely by individuals, but by whole families who frequently go to the library in their free time at weekends
- an increase in the level of computerization, both at workstations and study desks
- the disappearance of paper catalogues replaced by OPAC which are now relatively user-friendly
- a wider offer of documents on open shelves
- a front-line organization that guarantees prompter mediation between user and document
- backing the library services with youth information centres

A fact to be emphasized is that often this growth of the library and the awakening of administrators to its specificities has led them to seek juridical solutions that guarantee greater administrative autonomy in relation to the local body it belongs to.

The elements listed are undoubtedly a cause for satisfaction. However, less satisfaction is drawn from the lengthy times required for their implementation: no less than 5 years and at times more than 10. This is partly due to the difficulty in obtaining the sums of money required. Although in financial difficulty, town councils have very often had to sustain almost the entire expense for these projects alone. The sum allocated in the Regional body’s budget for cultural building operations is under-dimensioned in relation to demand2 and therefore at the very most covers a few percent of the cost incurred to produce the work. Moreover, the participation of private sponsors in this field is still extremely uncommon: there is still a long way to go in Italy as regards social responsibility of the enterprise before we reach the level of private initiatives in favour of public cultural activities found, for instance, in Anglo-Saxon areas.
Financial matters apart, there are other sides of the current situation that deserve more positive development.
We have already mentioned the lack of library planning. This is also linked to a dimensioning of buildings that takes little account of the standards established on this subject by the Italian Libraries Association.
Just as important in order to organize high-quality services would be the capacity to establish with no less than provincial dimensioning, that is in areas with at least 500,000 inhabitants, inter-library cooperation to offer true opportunities to rationalize costs and spaces. Think, for example, of the advantages that would derive from a common policy for storing books and periodicals over areas territorially connected in relation to the service: it would be easy to reduce storage spaces with a significant reduction in costs or a possible increase in areas destined for the public. Moreover, wide-ranging planning of the offer of public libraries would allow the implementation of “light” services (lending libraries) or mobile (mobile libraries) meaning that the use of fixed structures could be centred to a greater extent on more demanding services. It would be also necessary to improve the understanding of libraries in the Veneto Region towards the needs of the poor-sighted, to produce advanced products of reference such as business information and to make the library more of a cultural centre (according to IFLA indications) by placing it beside other cultural institutions in the community and providing this complex with greater recreational amenities (bars, restaurants, meeting places).
The definition and adoption of organizational formulas such as the classic “three level library” solution suggested by our German colleagues or the adoption of “thematic areas” which recently seems to have gained ground, are also worthy of reflection.
Undoubtedly it would be advisable to guarantee greater compliance with customization logic in our most important libraries. For example, where boxes equipped with work stations are available, even at a charge, this seems to attract the attention of a more demanding public, who until recently were somewhat dissatisfied with the limits of the public library service.
Finally, libraries in the Veneto Region must rid themselves of a fault they have always had: their lack of attention to multi-cultural aspects. This in itself is a serious limit which has now become unacceptable owing to the noteworthy increase in foreigners in our community over the last few years. Providing multilingual signs, OPAC and personnel in our libraries will be a sign of important development of these structures also required to increase documentary collections of other countries publishing. When this actually occurs on a widespread basis, and not sporadically as is the case today, we can truly refer to public libraries as a window on the world, as a stimulus for everyone to become enriched through comparison with others and to become true citizens of the world.